4. Taken by Surprise

Aruna

My 'muh dikhayi'  went well. All the people were really sweet towards me well I was the new bride after all. I had chosen to wear a pink lehenga with diamond jewellery gifted to me by my grandmother-in-law aka granny. I did refuse as I was not used to wearing such things because I always liked my jewellery to be simple.

Oh, and the sweet dish I prepared was appreciated by all(no they did not fake it because even I liked it). Even Sumit, who managed, to say a few good words because earlier he was the one who had raised the question about my cooking skills. He said, "Well...uh..this dish was very...tasty..very delicious".

Hah! take that Kapoor.

Sumit was dressed in a dark blue sherwani with a blank look on his face. I was really enjoying it. Seriously, I was because unlike Sumit everyone else was so warm and caring.

I got to know that he had three cousin sisters from his father's side all of whom had become my friends. I did not even know I could make friends so fast but they were lovely people. Ankush greeted them and for a change did not keep his distance from Sumit who wasn't too happy about it. Granny's sister who has unfortunately passed away, has two sons. Ranjit and Sanjay Singh.

Ranjit uncle, the elder brother has two children, Ramya and Viveka and Sanjay uncle, the younger brother has one - Akanksha. Sanjana and Anjali aunty was full of childhood stories of these three. I also met his paternal aunt, Sumita. She was unmarried but was the most fun-loving person in the family. Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone from his mother's side except Rohit.

Ramya was the eldest, she was tall with sharp features. She was a lawyer. Viveka was the youngest among the three, she was petite with a cute oval face and a very pretty smile. She's doing an MBA and Akanksha who had average height and sharp features like Ramya is a lawyer. They liked to call themselves the 'Singh sisters'.

There weren't many relatives but the laughter and the fun they were having made it seem that the house was packed with people.

Some of granny's friends were invited as well who like granny were kind and jovial.

~✾~✾~✾~

"So how did you both meet and how the hell did you manage to sweep my brother off his feet?" Ramya quizzed with a broad grin making the others chuckle.

We were sitting in my room or rather ours. Rashmi, Tia, Ramya, Viveka and Akanksha were sitting making an arc and waiting for my reply. I glanced at Rashu who was the only person who knew the real story. She gave me a reassuring look.

I smiled, "It was an arranged marriage you know. I did not do anything to sweep him off his feet".

Vivi as I had started calling her, scoffed, "We don't believe. Do you know how much granny tried to get him married? He just refused and the only girl he dated was-" but she stopped all of sudden. I did not miss Akanksha's subtle glare but I chose to not comment on it but Rashu being the curious one, asked, "Why did you stop? Who was that girl?"

"Err...I-I think I forgot her name or something", Viveka murmured uneasily.

"Its okay Vivi," I said calmly, "What's past should remain there. I do not care for whom he dated or not". "So much of love. I think I might drown in it", Akanksha gushed. All of us laughed except Tia who forced a smile. I let it pass.

"But how do you know so much? even I don't know half about him and I am married to his brother". Rashu humphed.

"We had our sources", Viveka winked.

"But we already love you a lot", Akanksha said. Ramya agreed, "Yes. Just imagine meeting up for shopping and lunch when you will come to Delhi or when we visit London".

Rashu and Tia nodded.

I felt like I knew these people for ages. They all stayed for dinner on our request. Sumit had gone back to his study after like thirty minutes of greeting everyone. No one seemed to be bothered, I wonder why? But for that evening I allowed myself to forget the truth and enjoy. 

~❉~❉~❉~

At night after bidding goodnight to  I went to my room. As I had expected Sumit was not in the room. I sighed. This man is so annoying, can't even maintain a genial relation with his wife. I changed into my nightdress and looked at the watch, it read 11:30.

Where is he?

I decided to at least ask him to come to bed. Why was he hell-bent on ignoring me like I was a disease and he was desperately trying to not catch it. I know I sounded clingy but can you blame me? Before he married me at least he spoke to me but in this one and a half days since we married he has barely said 10 sentences which mostly consisted of 'good morning' and 'goodnight'. He totally switched to another person.

I trudged to the study where I assumed he would be.

As I had assumed, he was there, sitting on the high back chair and furiously typing on his laptop. He did not even notice my presence. He had changed from his sherwani to his a pair of black sweats and a grey t-shirt.

I cleared my throat gaining his attention. He looked at me and I saw something flash in his eyes before it hardened, "Why are you here?"

I squared my shoulder, "It's late".

"So?"

"So? You know you are the most arrogant, unsociable and annoying person walking on Earth", I said angrily. How could a person be so indifferent? Sumit got up from his chair and stalked towards me, I did not move an inch. I needed answers and he couldn't just treat me like crap.

He glared, "Leave me alone. I told you before and I am repeating this again, do not meddle with my personal life. We aren't man and wife behind closed doors".

That felt like a slap.

"Sorry to disturb you Mr.Kapoor", I said in a clipped tone. This man standing in front of me was not the one who I met in Dehra. I swallowed the lump in my throat. He rubbed his temples, "Aruna, look I am sorry. I did not-"

I cut him off, "Don't.  Just don't". I turned to leave but then what came next took me by surprise, an astounding one. His hand grasped my wrist pulling me towards him. My back collided with his chest. His breath, hot, on the back of the neck, making goosebumps on my skin.

He brought his lips near my ear and whispered, "Do you know what you are doing to me Mrs.Kapoor? You're messing with my brain, you are ruining me". Utterly confused by these sudden accusations, I whirled around to face him and defend myself. How dare he accuse me of such things?

But stopped. His eyes burned with a raw emotion that I could not fathom.

His hand was now resting on the small of my back, making me aware of our closeness, our intimate position and it was making me feel things that I have never felt before.

"You were good today", his voice was dry and the look on his face made my mouth go dry. "Th-thanks", I heard myself saying because I couldn't tear my gaze away from his brown orbs. My gaze dropped to his lips which suddenly felt so inviting.

Our lips were mere inches away from each other. I had a sudden urge to close the distance. As if Sumit's brain was in sync with mine. His head bent down and in the blink of an eye, his lips were upon mine.

✍✍✍✍

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